Tethys Research Institute aerial survey cetacean sightings 2009-2011 ...

• Main Authors: Lanfredi, Caterina, Di Sciara, Giuseppe Notarbartolo, ACCOBAMS And WDCS
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: OBIS-SEAMAP 2021
• Subjects: Occurrence,Aircraft,Sightings; Observation; Occurrence; Fin whale
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.15468/585nbj; https://www.gbif.org/dataset/bbf53f93-852f-466d-88ad-b9e1327f9215

Original provider: Tethys Research Institute Dataset credits: Tethys Research Institute; Institute for Environmental Protection and Research - ISPRA Abstract: Monitoring abundance and distribution is essential in any conservation strategy, but is often ignored in many regions, including much of the Mediterranean. It is a priority of the Italian Ministry of the Environment, who funded a series of aerial surveys around Italy, to provide significant baseline information on cetaceans distribution and abundance. The covered areas included the Pelagos Sanctuary, the Central Tyrrhenian, the Corsica and Sardinia Seas, and the Ionian Sea and the Gulf of Taranto. Numbers of animals within the Sanctuary are significantly higher in summer, when human activities and thus potential population level impacts are highest. A crude comparison with data from past shipboard surveys suggests an appreciable decrease in fin whale density in the Pelagos Sanctuary area over the last decade, reiterating the need for a major synoptic ...